


We Don't Have To Be One Or The Other

by bionic man (thesassassin)



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Ben is in denial, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, I don't know how government or accounting works and at this point I'm too afraid to ask, M/M, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed, chris is very affectionate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-01 10:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13292463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesassassin/pseuds/bionic%20man
Summary: Ben Wyatt prefers working alone. Ben Wyatt does not have a crush on his new colleague. Ben Wyatt is good at lying to himself.





	1. Chapter 1

Ben Wyatt is very good at his job. He knows how to look at spreadsheets and see flaws and patterns that most people don’t; he can run through a thousand mental flowcharts and if-this-then-thats and find the magic combination of subtractions and divisions that saves a city from bankruptcy. And that is what he’s doing, saving people. Yes, some people get laid off, but that’s better than the entire government shutting down and _everyone_ being laid off. No one ever sees it that way, though. They just see the man in a suit coming in from the big city to tell them how to run _their_ town and making good people lose their jobs. And admittedly Ben isn’t exactly a people person, and maybe if he was friendlier or more sympathetic people wouldn’t swear at him or threaten to shoot him quite so much, but Ben frankly doesn’t have much sympathy for incompetent officials who can’t manage their money. The incompetent officials in question usually don’t share his viewpoint. Which is how he’s ended up in a rather unpleasant meeting with his supervisor.  
“Five in a row, Wyatt. The last five towns you’ve gone to have all sent letters of complaint about your conduct.”  
“Did they also complain about being able to keep functioning now that they have feasible budget plans?”  
“Three of the complaints included _death threats_!”  
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” His supervisor, Kelly, doesn’t seem placated. Ben sighs. “Look, I know I’m not exactly likeable, but I do my job. I audit, I make the cuts, I keep local governments afloat. Why does it matter whether or not they think I’m Mr Nice Guy?”  
“Normally I’d agree with you, but the feedback you’re getting...the next letter of complaint might be an envelope of anthrax. You do numbers extremely well, Wyatt, and that’s the important part of your job, but your interpersonal skills just aren’t cutting it.”  
“Wh-what are you saying?” This is starting to sound less like a dressing-down and more like a firing, and Ben really doesn’t want to be fired. He likes his job. Despite the death threats and incompetence.  
“I’m saying you need a partner.”  
“A partner?”  
“Yes. From now on, you’ll do all your assignments in conjunction with Chris Traeger - you might have met him before?”  
“I don’t think so…”  
“Oh, you’d remember if you’d met Chris before. He’s memorable. Definitely Mr Nice Guy. Like you, he’s excellent with numbers, but he’s also been having some trouble with...communication with local governments, so I’m hoping you two will balance each other out. I’ll send him over to you later this morning, with your first assignment together. Okay?”  
“Okay. Uh, thank you.” Ben isn’t entirely sure what he’s thanking her for. Having another person with him to absorb some of the vitriol might be nice, but Ben works best alone. Like Batman.

* * *

 

“Ben Wyatt?” Ben looks up from his work to see the happiest (and handsomest) man he’s ever seen standing in the doorway of his office. _Definitely Mr Nice Guy,_ Kelly had said. He stands up.  
“Yeah, that’s me. Are you Chris Traeger?”  
“Yes, and I am _so_ pleased to meet you! I think this partnership will be literally the best possible thing for both our careers.” Ben nods, unable to come up with a response in the face of such unbridled enthusiasm. Chris holds out a folder. “This is our assignment. Southfort! We’re leaving tomorrow.”  
“Tomorrow? That’s sooner than I’d expected.”  
“Yes, well, they seem to be in dire straits! How early do you want to leave? I know a place that serves the best vegan breakfast I have _ever_ eaten, and they open at six! How about we meet there and fuel up before hitting the road?”  
“Southfort’s only an hour away, I don’t think we need to leave more than three hours before the first meeting. That should give us plenty of time to drop our stuff at the motel and look over the casefile before we go in to talk with the department heads.”  
“Interesting approach! I like it!” From anyone else the sentence would seem passive-aggressive, but Chris seems to really mean it. “In that case, shall we depart from here at eight?”  
“Yes, that sounds much more civilized.”  
“Great! See you tomorrow, partner!” And with that, Chris turns and jogs down the hallway. Ben watches until he’s out of sight, and then opens the assignment folder. Southfort does indeed seem to be in dire straits, but Ben’s seen a lot worse.

* * *

 Chris is disgustingly cheerful the next morning. Ben isn’t surprised. He is slightly surprised at how much luggage Chris has.  
“I take a lot of supplements,” Chris explains, hoisting a backpack into Ben’s trunk. It rattles.  
“You have a whole backpack of vitamins?”  
“Vitamins, and minerals. Herbal supplements. Protein powder. Raw probiotics…”  
Ben tunes Chris out while he fires up the GPS. He’d insisted on driving, largely because he has a feeling that Chris is either the kind of person who drives far too fast on the highway without showing a healthy level of fear and respect for trucks, or the kind of person who likes to stop at every rest point to admire the view and purposefully drive through tiny villages to exclaim over how quaint they are.  
“So, uh, you wanna pick a radio station?” Ben asks once they’re both belted in. “Or I have some CDs in the glove compartment.” It strikes him for the first time that he’s going to be stuck in a car with a stranger, and he’s very glad that their first assignment is nearby.  
Chris fiddles with the radio dial, stopping on a station playing disco interspersed with static. “I have booked us rooms in a motel called the Highway Hut, which is the most _wonderful_ name I have _ever_ heard.”  
“Oh, yeah, I’ve stayed in a Highway Hut before. The room next to mine was an active crime scene, but apart from that it wasn’t too bad.”  
“How fascinating! That sounds like a place with real personality.”  
Ben glances over at Chris, unsure if he’s being serious. “I guess... I don’t really like cops, so it was a little stressful having the place swarming with them all the time.”  
“Well, this assignment should go nice and smoothly. And if it does prove stressful, I have some _excellent_ calming herbal tablets. The effects of lavender on the human body are incredible.”  
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”  
Ben turns the radio volume up in an attempt to discourage any further conversation about herbs and/or supplements. He wonders what communication problems Chris could possibly have while working. Ben has a hard time imagining any city managers telling Chris to do anatomically improbable things with a spreadsheet, or threatening to drown him. He just seems charming and almost overwhelmingly friendly, and Ben has trouble believing that a government employee could get in trouble for being too likeable.


	2. Chapter 2

Chris’ main problem, it turns out, is being too likeable. He and Ben hadn’t really discussed strategy before going into the meeting with Southfort’s city management and department heads, and Ben now sees that that was a mistake. In his defence, he’s not used to working with another person, and it hadn’t occurred to him that Chris’ approach to auditing would be so different. Although it really should have, given how different Chris’ approach to everything else is.  
“We’re here to tinker with your budget!” Chris is saying with a wide smile, and Ben fights the urge to roll his eyes. In the spirit of professionalism and presenting a united front he manages to keep his expression neutral while Chris explains how they’re going to put a new coat of paint on the broken-down carousel that is the government. It’s a cute metaphor, and the Southfort people seem to be responding to it better than people respond to Ben’s usual opening gambit, which involves slamming down a stack of folders and announcing that a third of their personnel have to go.  
“Now, over the next few weeks, my colleague Ben and I will be sitting down to chat with each of you individually, to see what tweaks we can make so your department runs even more efficiently! Sound good?” There’s a halfhearted chorus of approval. “Great! You are all fantastic people, and I cannot _wait_ to begin working with you all.”  
Ben decides it’s time to jump in. “Okay, we’re going to start with Public Works. Mr Hyland, why don’t we go talk in your office?”

* * *

Chris may be good at pumping up groups of people, but he’s an absolute _nightmare_ in the individual meetings. Ben can’t believe that someone who has such a hard time telling people ‘no’ would decide to become an auditor, but life is full of mysteries.  
Ben is the one holding the spreadsheets for the Public Works budget, which means by auditing code of honor he’s the one who leads the meeting with Hyland. “Based on the spending information our office received, we’ve drawn up this list of suggested budget and personnel cuts for your offices,” Ben says, sliding the piece of paper over to Hyland. “Now, of course you know your department better than we do, so we welcome your input on where you think there’s financial waste that could be reduced.”  
Hyland looks at the list and swallows. “I gotta say, this seems pretty harsh. I thought you guys were just gonna, you know, tinker.”  
“Mr Hyland, the budget of every department needs to be cut by at least thirty percent. _At least_.”  
“Jeez. All these people need to get laid off? They’re good workers. Most of ‘em have families. And I mean, we can’t cut the holiday facilities budget. That’s for the tree lighting we do at Christmas. It’s a huge event. Kids would be devastated.” He gives them a supplicating look and Ben is about to launch into his usual it’s-not-me,-it’s-your-government’s-shitty-planning speech when Chris interjects.  
“I agree, that’s terrible! We can’t disappoint the children. Ben, isn’t there anything we can do?”  
“Wha-? _No_.” Ben briefly wonders if Chris is having a stroke, but then remembers the conversation they’d had in the car about how he has the resting heart rate of a turtle and decides it’s probably not physiologically possible.  
“Damn! I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do.”  
“Well, if you don’t mind me saying, it seems a little heartless.”  
“Hey, don’t worry! We’re here to help the government get back on its feet. And I have every confidence that this town will be running around like a triathlete in no time, because this is _literally_ the greatest town in America! And you, Mr Hyland, and your colleagues, are the greatest people I have ever met, and I know you are capable of doing great things! Although my partner here is right, you will have to reduce your budget by about a third.”  
“Thank you.” Hyland appears to blinking back tears. Ben starts to wonder if maybe he’s the one having a stroke.

“Hey, next time can you maybe not throw me under the bus like that?” Ben says while they wait to talk to the Head of Agriculture.  
“What do you mean?” Chris is the picture of wide-eyed innocence.  
“Saying stuff like ‘isn’t there anything we can do?’ when you know as well as I do that there isn’t!”  
“Ah. I’m sorry about that. I’m not very good at giving bad news.” Chris’ bubbly demeanour slips for a second - but only for a second. “You’re very good at it, though! I can see why Kelly paired us up.”   
“Yeah...Hyland was definitely less upset with me than people usually are,” Ben concedes.

* * *

By the end of the day they’ve met with four different departments and drawn up preliminary adjusted budgets for all of them, and in every meeting Chris makes Ben play bad cop to his good cop. But no one is actually angry at Ben. People aren’t happy with all of the cuts he and Chris have proposed, but the overall mood is hopeful.  
“You know, Ben Wyatt, this has been _the_ most productive first round of meetings I have ever had!” Chris says as they drive back to the motel at the end of the day. “I have a good feeling about this assignment.”  
“Me, too,” Ben admits. “That’s the first time no one’s cursed me out when I told them to reduce their spending on rubber bands.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. People get pretty defensive about their stationery.”  
Chris hums in agreement. “Hey, I’m going to go for a pre-dinner run, do you want to join me?”  
“Oh, no thanks. Running’s not really my thing.” Ben can’t help but feel bad about the kicked-puppy look that flits across Chris’ face, so he tries to amend his refusal with, “Do you wanna grab dinner together somewhere later? There’s gotta be a good vegan place around here somewhere.”  
“Ben Wyatt, there is literally nothing in the world that I would rather do! Why don’t we reconvene at seven? I can scout out restaurants while I’m running.”  
“Sounds like a plan.” And maybe it’s the result of a good day’s work or maybe it’s Chris’ infectious enthusiasm, but Ben can’t help smiling as he lets himself into his motel room and turns on the TV. Maybe this whole partner business isn’t going to be the worst thing in the world.


End file.
